


I'm not lonely when I'm with you two

by RedRiver24816



Category: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alliances, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cliche, Crushes, Fights, Kidnapping, M/M, Multi, Relationship(s), Rescue Missions, Stranded, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:14:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22259305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedRiver24816/pseuds/RedRiver24816
Summary: Some strange monsters appear in Pure Heart valley, and it seems like they are not alone. Mao Mao and Orangusnake will have to join forces and do something about it, but how can you fight alongside your nemesis, when you want to kiss them?This story takes place some time after Meet Tanya Keys.
Relationships: Mao Mao Mao/Orangusnake
Comments: 5
Kudos: 30





	1. The beatdown

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second story, I've been working on it for some days now and decided to publish what I have so far. I know that the trope of "Hero has to join forces with Villain to fight another Villain" is pretty overused. But I went for this sort of plot to practice my action scenes, and write a character different from what the show has. Feedback is appreciated.

We find ourselves in the plaza of Pure Heart valley. In a familiar scenario in which Mao Mao, Badgerclops and Adorabat are fighting the bad guys. As you might expected, they’re winning by a landslide.  
“What’s up with you guys today. You’re making this way too easy.” Said Mao Mao doding each of Orangusnake’s axe swings with ease.  
“Aw… I thought I was getting better.” Commented Adorabat. Twisting her mouth while throwing a smoke bomb to Ratarang.  
“We--are--not--making--this any easy!” Screamed Orangusnake to such provocation. Increasing the rhythm of his attacks in an attempt to cut down Mao Mao, missing each time.  
“Boss, I got it!” Trying to call the attention of her superior. Ramaraffe yelled and pointed at her hand, which was holding the Gem cell of the aerocycle.  
“No, you don’t.” Replied Clops, expanding his robotic arm and taking the stone from the giraffe.  
“I’ll take that. Thank you very much.” Responded Boss Hosstrich, who was sneaking up behind the badger. Stealing the artifact and making his escape.  
“Okay, that’s enough.” Said the cat, throwing his sword towards the direction of the Ostrich, stopping him.  
“Yeah! My show starts at 8 o'clock and I’m not missing it!” Yelled BC while extending his arm and trapping the Sky pirates.  
“For ME!” Said Adorabat retrieving the gem, and handing it over to Mao Mao.  
With not much air to work with, Orangusnake said. “If you could have done this from the start, then why didn’t you used it?”  
“I didn’t feel like it” Chuckled as he threw the whole crew of baddies back to the forest.  
After a strong noise in the distance, the Sky pirates dropped their signature catch phrase “We’re okay!” to which our heroes replied “We didn’t ask!”

\------

“Damn those FOOLS! ALWAYS getting in our way to steal their stuff!” Hollered OS, hitting the ground with his fists.  
“Calm down boss, at least we got each other.” Replied Ratarang while standing up and removing dirt off his face. His choice of words was with the best of intentions, but hearing them only made the Cobra rage.  
“THAT’S RIGHT! I HAVE A BUNCH OF ILLITERATE, USELESS, IMBECILES TO COMFORT ME! WHAT ELSE COULD I NEED! Oh… I know, FOOD, MY SHIP AND USEFUL HENCHMEN!” He was mad, but after screaming his lungs out, he realized what he said.  
“...Do you hate us that much Boss?” Asked Ramaraffe like she was about to cry.  
“Eh- NO, I mean-”  
“C’mon guys, let’s head back home.” Interrupted Boss Hosstrich keeping calm. Grabbing the hands of his comrades, he entered the broken ship.  
“W-wait a sec I didn’t-”  
“You’ve said enough for a day, sir.” Responded, glancing at Orangusnake and closing the door of the ship.  
He found himself in an uncomfortable silence, until he exploded in anger. “Agh, This is all their fault, those pesky heroes!” Growled, shaking his head in violent fashion, but his body was completely stiff “Uh? What’s wrong?” Asked Cobby. “Oh, don’t tell me YOU are mad at me too!” But his partner remained silent. “FINE! I’ll go get some sleep elsewhere in the ship. I don’t need the silent treatment right now.” The head of Orangusnake detached from the armor. Cobby crawled thru the floor and climbed the rests of the ship, disappearing from the sight of the Orangutan. The ape sighed and entered the ship as well.

\------

Meanwhile back at HQ, a quarter until midnight. Bagerclops and Adorabat were sleeping in their respective bunks. But our hero was still awake, sitting on the doorstep of the house, looking at the bright and shiny moon. Asking to himself. “Why am I so lonely?” He wasn’t doing so great. He was having yet another of his many, many insecurities manifesting. He hated the way it felt, after all, how exactly was he alone? He had friends that were closer to him than his own family, he had the valley to protect and yet, he felt lonely. Truth is, having Tanya recently appear in town made him reflect on the old days. When they two used to date. In how, even tho he was dating a criminal, she made him happy. He used to feel so happy with her, until they separated. Tired from his own thoughts, he decided to go back to bed. 

\------

“Who’s there!” Said Cobby, waking up from his slumber scared, and holding a stick with his tail. “I’m the captain of this ship. I fear no Hawks!- Oh… it’s you.” said with a spiteful voice when he saw his partner. Tanner was standing in front of him with a displeased face and crossed arms. “Well, well, well, look who’s back, the monke- WAIT! Where are you-” The orangutan turned around and walked to nowhere in particular. “...I’m sorry okay!” His partner stopped. “You know more than anyone that I didn’t mean all that. We’ve been trying for so long to get that gem and, eating from the garbage it’s so shameful... What I’m trying to say is, this is not the life you and the guys deserve.” Tanner turned to Cobby, enough to glance at him, but not to meet his eyes. “All I’ve ever wanted is to become a Legendary Pirate. But everyday we spend in this place, the more pathetic I feel, both as a leader...and as your partner. I’ll apologize to everyone tomorrow, you can go to bed now. Thanks for listening to me- AH!” Exclaimed Cobby, after Tanner hugged him. The Orangutan didn’t know how to speak, but it wasn’t necessary. “H-hey! I thought you were mad at me. Let’s…get some sleep, okay?”


	2. The monster appears

The day after, the monster alarm announced trouble at HQ. “Agh, This early in the morning?” Said Badgerclops, who was chilling in the couch.  
“Let’s go! It’s hero time.” Replied Mao Mao jumping across the sofa and opening the doors. But he wasn’t ready for what was waiting on the other side. It was an elephant looking beast that had spider legs and over 20 eyes all across its face. It was enormous, about the size of the house, and it was dark blue with shades of sangria. “What the-” But before he had time to react, the beast shot a web through it’s elephant trunk, trapping him.  
“Dude, are you okay?” Badgerclops ran fast to aid his friend, but the elephant shot him too.  
“What’s up with all the noise you guys- What’s that thing!” Screamed Adorabat, the elephant fired at her as well, but she to dodge it.  
“H-Hey, Adorabat! Mind helping us out?” Said Badgerclops.  
“Lemme try this first.” She threw 3 smoke bombs at the opened door, exploding and creating a wall of fog. “Now what?”  
“This thing’s pretty sticky, I don’t think I can move.” Commented Mao Mao.  
After hearing this, the bat flew to the kitchen and came back immediately with a knife. And she used it to slash the webs that had our heroes incapacitated. “What was that thing?”  
“I have no idea, but we’ll have to beat it.”  
“Wait...if that thing’s here, What is going on in the town?”  
The hero panicked for a second, could there be another monster like this one there? If so, there was no time to lose. “I will take the aerocycle. Badgerclops! Adorabat! Both of you will have to beat this one, if there’s another one in town, I will have to get rid of it before it’s too late.”  
“Yeah! Badgerclops and I will take care of this.”  
“Okay, just make sure not to get caught again Mao Mao”  
Mao Mao nodded and ran through the dojo, climbed the roof and jumped to the vehicle. He started the machine and flew to his destination.

\------

Parallel to this, at the Sky Pirates’ base, the crew was fighting the same monster. It fired a web to Ratarang, catching him.  
“Where did dat thing came from?” Asked Ramaraffe  
“I got no idea, but we can’t let it eat the lil’ fellow.”  
“Help me ova here.”  
It didn’t take too long before the beast took all the sky pirates down. One by one, the monster began to lift it’s victim with it’s elephant trunk, and toss them into its mouth. Boss Hosstrich was the only one left, when the creature was raising him up, he started to scream for his life. “BOSS!” Luckily for him, the door of the ship opened.  
“What are you guys doing now! Your leader can’t sleep with all this- HOLY S-” The elephant spurted a shot at the Fusion, dropping the Ostrich. He rolled, dodging the web, then, pulled out his energy axe.   
“Boss! That thing’s dangerous, you gotta make a run for it!”  
“Where are the others?”  
“That thing ate ‘em”  
“Is that so? I can’t allow such humiliation to my crew” He started running in the direction of the beast. Avoiding some shots and cutting his way thru others, all without losing the momentum. He jumped as high as he could, and with his energy axe he chopped down the head of the creature. After his attack, he expected that the blood would create a mess, but taking a look at his weapon, it was dry. He sensed that there was something off, so he turned to see the remainings of the monster. “Wait, is this thing a-”

\------

Upon arriving, Mao Mao saw that the creature have trapped several sweetypies already. Even so, it didn’t seem like the beast ate anyone yet. Our hero decided to take no risks. He parked in a nearby roof, unsheathed Geraldine and jumped straight for the monster’s head. He pierced through the skull with one clean hit, ending the Monster’s life. Mao Mao decided not to remove Geraldine right away, so the blood wouldn’t get gushed all over the plaza. “I didn’t want to do this, but I had no choice… Now, how do I get rid of the corps- UH?” Mao Mao turned around to see the beast’s trunk before getting hit with it. The bash was so strong, it sent him flying away, hitting the walls of the town’s entrance. “...Ack… Is this what the Sky pirates… Feel after a beatdown?” Struggling to get back his breath, Mao Mao began to stand up. “Calm down… You can do better than that.” Said to himself in an attempt to calm down. “Now, I’m pretty sure Geraldine is still stuck in that thing, but, wait a minute. I stabbed it’s head… Didn't I?” Mao Mao looked at his feet looking for traces of blood, but there wasn’t any. “So they don’t have blood? But how can they...Oh! I get it, they have to be robots! The Sky pirates must have found those things in the dumpster and decided to use them.” Sure of his conclusion, he cracked his neck, ready to get back into action. “I will kick their asses once I’m done with their little toy.” And so, he runned back for another round with the beast.

\------

Examining the rests of the robot, Orangusnake felt unsettle. “What in the hell is going on! What is a robo-arachno-elephant thingy even doing here!”   
“I don’t know, that thing came outta nowhere and started attacking us.”  
He had several questions, but helping his friends was important as well. With its head chopped off, the throat of the robot resembled some sort of tube, with a sluice at the end of the torso. He decided not to bother trying to open said gate. Instead sliced through the lateral of the torso that was facing him, freeing his allies from the metal prison. “I know it’s not the best moment to say this but… I’m really sorry for yesterday. You guys have done nothing to be treated like I did.”  
“That’s cool and all but, uh, could you help us now?” Said Ramaraffe  
“Right. I was about to get to that...” Answered while blushing, and began to do set them free.

Right when he was about to free Ratarang, who was the only one still tied up, something snapped in Cobby’s head. “Oh, I get it, the Sheriff wanted to get rid of us once and for all. So he made the badger build this thing to do the dirty job for them.”  
“Whatchu gonna do about it Boss?”  
“Pretty simple, my little minion” Replied while petting the rat “I’ll make their heads roll, right now!” After saying this, he walked, headed straight to the sheriff department.  
“I...uh, suppose I hafta… Could you guys lend me a hand ova here?”


	3. The mysterious airship

“Stop moving Pinky, I could cut you if you don’t stay still.” Said Mao Mao attempting to set free the last sweetypie.

“No! I’m part of the floor now, and I won’t let you separate us.”

“Augh, I don’t have time for this, do what you want.” He was right, there was a monster at HQ as well. While Badgerclops and Adorabat can take care of it, he wanted to make sure they were okay. Once he reached the house he parked in, started the aerocycle, and made his way back home.

Before arriving, he saw the rests of the robot lying in the yard. Sighed in relief, assuming that his deputies would be inside the house. After lining up the vehicle in the usual spot, the cat entered his house, but he saw no one in there. “Guys I’m home, I gotta say, you did a great job back there.” Still, no answer. “Is anyone in here?” he approached his desk, hoping to find a note or a sign of them, but there was nothing.

“Hey dimwits!” said Orangusnake from the opened door, throwing his axe at Mao, missing for a bit. “I got your message pretty clear. But if you thought _we_ were gonna give up that easy, then I have a newsflash for you.” He forced his way into the house. Charging to our hero and extending his arms to grab him. In response, Mao Mao grabbed the Orangutan’s hands, stopping him. “I’m going to end you.”

Mao was barely able to keep up with the guy. “Wh-what are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb with me! YOU sent those things to MY base, and attacked my friends. I thought you had some class, but I guess kicking someone when they’re down is something you enjoy.”

Mao Mao kicked Tanner’s face, freeing himself from the ape’s grasp. Then, he dashed under his enemy and got out of the house. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! In fact, I imagined those things were yours.” Preparing for the imminent fight, Mao unsheathed his katana.

“WE CAN’T EVEN AFFORD FOOD, AND YOU THINK WE CAN BUILD SOMETHING LIKE THAT OUT OF JUNK?” Answered Orangusnake coming out of the house, with his energy weapon in cutlass mode. He plunged to hit Mao Mao, who blocked the hit and went for a slash. Their swords collisioned against each other, over and over. Neither of them was holding back, this continued until. “What’s that thing!”

“HA! Real cute. You want me to turn around so you can finish me off?”

“N-No, I’m serious.” Replied Orangusnake turning off and dropping his weapon. Pulling out a pair of glasses and putting them on.

A brief yet heavy air wave struck the scruff of Mao Mao’s neck, he turned around and saw something he wasn’t expecting. It was an airship, bigger than the Sky Pirate’s. It was celeste with some green parts and it seems like it had a bunch of translucent containers on the deck. “Hey! Those guys are not with you?”

“Does it look like I had a spare ship this whole time?”

Several arachno elephants started to appear all over the valley. They began to stand in a peculiar way, before bouncing back and forth, leaping into the vessel. Mao Mao was in shock, were all of them hidden in the valley at plain sight? Who’s ship was that? Where were Badgerclops and Adorabat?

“Wait, are those robots vomiting on the containers... Gross.” In one of the containers, Mao Mao saw something he didn’t want to. “What! B-but I saved them a moment ago.” All the inhabitants of pure heart valley were now in there, crowded like fish in a small tank. From the King Snugglemagne to Chubbum. But that wasn’t the end of it, because in other container, he was able to see both of his deputies. “How?!”

“Ha. Well sheriff, it seems you are out of allies HAHAH-Wait a minute!” He stopped as soon as he saw his friends in the same situation. “I was gone for like, twenty minutes! How did y’all managed to get caught again.”

“I have to do something” Mao Mao sheathed back Geraldine and got in the aerocycle.

“Wait!” Said Orangusnake jumping in front of Mao Mao. “They have my crew too, and I don’t have a way to get there and-”

“Jump in and hold me tight”

“O-Okay.” And so he did.

“What th- Oh yeah, I forgot.” The cat shaked for a brief moment, he forgot about Tanner, who’s breathing was hitting his back.

“Sorry.”

“...Whatever.”


	4. The villain debuts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took longer than I expected, but here it is. Expect the last two chapters in 2 or 3 days from now.

As they approached the ship from below, Mao and Orangusnake pulled out their weapons. Waiting for some kind of alarm to go off, and jump straight into a fight. But to their surprise, now matter how closer they got to the ship, nothing happened. Orangusnake acted fast, turning around the vehicle to get a better sight of the vessel.

“H-Hey, I thought we were going to teach those guys a lesson.”

“We  _ are _ , but if we just show up in there like morons, we are gonna get caught.”

“...I hate to say it, but you’re right.” 

After getting enough distance, Cobby saw the bridge of the ship. It was empty and without any robots next to it, meaning that they could use it to sneak in. “Okay, we are going there.” 

“Got it.”

\------

Meanwhile, at the deck

“Hey, Badgerclops.”

“Yes, Adorabat?”

“Can’t you use your robo-arm to get us out of here?”

“Well, this web thingy kinda screwed up my arm. I don’t even know how.”

“I see, so… What’s gonna happen to us?”

“I don’t know man, but don’t worry, last time I got kidnap was actually really cool. Besides, I’m sure Mao is going to save us.”

“Yeah! I bet he’s already got a plan and everything.”

But as they were celebrating, a gate opened in the middle of the deck, someone was coming. “Aw man… I still can’t believe this place is real! Those pirate guys sure weren’t lying.” It was a yellow coyote with a snarky, yet soft voice. He was wearing a green coat with a war pattern, and a large gauntlet in his left arm. “But it’s filled with monsters tho. It’s a shame really, I would’ve put a house in here.” 

“Who are you fiend! And why are you here!” Hollered Snugglemagne.

He then turned to see the container that had the sweetypies in. “And you are…?”

“I’m the King of this peasants, and I demand an explanation!”

“Oh, so you’re the leader of these cute little things.” He began to walk in the direction of the King. “That makes things easier. So, mind telling me what happened to that big, beautiful gem over there?”

“Wh-What?  _ I  _ asked  _ you _ first!”

“Well… Where do I begin? My name is Daichi and I’m a golden Coyote. About what am I doing here? For starters, this place isn’t supposed to exist, but I heard from some guys that it was actually real. They talked about  _ that _ giant piece of jewelry, and I felt like taking it. Plus, I also heard that this place had some of the cutest things laying around. And they were right,  _ all  _ of your people are  _ so _ cute. Except for the pink one, what’s wrong with him? Did his mom dropped him as a baby or something.”

Pinky was about to screech.“WHY YOU-”

“Hey you! You, uh, butt face!” Said Adorabat from the other container. “You won’t get away with this!”

“Oh? I thought all the sweetypies were in this one.” He approached Adorabat.

“Well, I’m not your average sweetypie. The name’s Adorabat!”

“Right… So, who’s that guy?”

“Hi, I’m Badgerclops, and you should give up before we punch you in the face.”

“I’d heard those guys if I were you, they always kick our tails every week or so.” Commented Boss Hosstrich from the sky pirate’s cage.

“I mean, I’m not gonna take the ruby now that’s broken but… I can still kidnap you tho.”

“Oh yeah, you can still do that…” Added Badgerclops.

\------

“Okay, so there are about thirty five of those things in the deck, and there’s two of us-”

“Three” Interrupted Cobby.

“Right, three. We know for a fact that cutting their heads is the way to go, and if they shoot you, even once, it’s over. What do you think?”

“We could always blow up the ship.”

“And what about our friends?”

“Hmm… How about-”

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Said Daichi from behind.

“No, you’re n-WHAT!”

“How did you find us?!”

“I have cameras all over the ship, but they’re too small for you to see, so it’s okay.”

Our heroes drew their swords and assumed combat positions. “Whoa, whoa… I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” He quickly pressed some buttons in the gauntlet, making two robots appear. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way, it’s your call.”

“HA, you are crazy if you think that we would-”

“WE SURRENDER.” Orangusnake dropped his weapon. Mao Mao, Daichi, not even Tanner could believe what he did.

“But we-” Cobby interrupted Mao again by slapping his hands, causing him to drop Geraldine.

“...Okay.” Daichi bent and picked up the weapons, tossing them behind him. He then made a hand gesture, telling the duo to walk towards the deck.

Without his katana, and with two beasts aiming to him, Mao began to walk, and so did Orangusnake. As they approached the deck, He saw his friends trapped, ashamed of himself, he refused to make eye contact.

“Oh, HI MAO MAO!” Said Adorabat cheerful as always.

“Seriously?! Damn, this guy’s good.”

“Nah, it’s no big deal, they surrendered that’s all.”

“Our boss gave up? Aw man, what are we gonna do?”

“Don’t worry boy-a, I’m sure he’s got this.”

They reached the container that had the Sky pirates first. Orangusnake turned to Daichi and said. “I have to admit it, you are a great villain, but I can’t imagine that you put this whole thing together alone. Tell me, is someone else in this ship?”

“Nope, I did this all by myself. I’m not the fighting type, but when it comes down to building things, I’m more than enough.” Replied puffin out his chest.

“Wonderful! That makes things easier.”

“Say what-” Before he could finish, Orangusnake dealt a suckerpunch right in his snout. The hit sent him flying through the deck.

“That’s for messing with  _ my _ friends.”

Everyone was impressed, but Mao Mao was perplexed by such power move. Tricking the enemy, making them believe you surrender, and getting their guard down. But also protecting his friends at the same time, all in about two minutes. Mao Mao’s idea of Orangsnake had changed at that moment. He was still a Pirate, but giving up his pride and asserting dominance from one second to another was legendary.

“Don’t just stand there! Go get our weapons back!”

“Oh-what-Yeah, I’ll do that.” He dashed back to the bridge.

“Agh, that hurts man!” He tried reaching to his Gauntlet, but Orangusnake grabbed his arm as he was about to use it.

“As I thought! You can’t control those things without this.” He then broke the device, hurting Daichi’s arm in the process.

“Let go!” He attempted to punch him with his other hand, but Orangusnake grabbed it as well, and lifted him out of the ground.

“Hm… If that’s what you want.” He smirked while moving towards a ledge on the ship.

“That’s not what I meant!”

“Too late.”

“Hey!” Mao Mao shouted. “Don’t do it.”

“Oh, please Sheriff! I thought you wanted to get rid of him.”

“I want to make him pay too. But killing him is not the way it goes.”

While these two kept arguing, Daichi was carefully shaking his torso. It turns out he had something under his sleeve, or in this case, in a pocket from inside his coat. A button press was all he need it, and he pulled it off. Something came out flying from inside the bridge at full speed. Breaking a window in the process and distracting everyone. It was a hoverboard, and with the speed and strength of a rocket, it hit Cobby’s face, which made him drop Daichi. As he was falling, the hoverboard caught him in the air, standing up in the board, he went back to the ship. “I take everything back, this place is the WORST. You’ve pushed my buttons, and now you will suffer the consequences.” He pulled a tablet from his right pocket, and furiously tapped the screen. All of a sudden, a bunch of humanoid robots appeared in the deck. Not only that, but the airship started to move past the town. “But don’t worry, I know the guys in the cages had nothing to do with this, so I’ll tell you something. This ship has some escape pods. I’m sure if you squish everyone pretty well, most of you will survive, but I really hope  _ you _ don’t.” He pointed at Orangusnake before flying off into the distance.

“Curses! What are we gonna do now?” Asked Cobby.

“Easy, win.” Mao Mao threw the energy weapon to Orangusnake. “You set everyone free, I’ll handle this.” He rushed to the robots and started slashing thru them with ease.

“He didn’t even let me say no...” He resigned and started by opening the container where his friends were. “I don’t wanna hear your words of praise, right now you have one job, and if you mess that up you die. Okay?”

The bad guys noded in response.

Several minutes have passed, and they were running out of time. The ship was getting closer and closer to a mountain, with no signs of stopping. The Sky Pirates and the Sheriff’s deputies were evacuating the sweetypies. After helping the last one, Orangusnake tried to get up, but a small pieces of web got him stuck. A robot plunged at him, he didn’t have time to react, so he closed his eyes in fear. But after a few seconds of nothing happening, he opened his eyes to see Mao Mao’s back. The cat was blocking the attack with his sword.

“What are you doing?! Do you want to get yourself killed?” 

Mao Mao impressed Tanner and Cobby with his skills, now with his reaction time. They’ve fought many times before, but this time, they were able to see what he was fully capable of. “Sorry, I-I’ll join you in a moment.” He sliced the bits of web and stood up, ready to fight.

\------

At the same time, in the escape pods area. Badgerclops, Adorabat and Boss Hosstrich were making making sure all sweetypies were safe. “Okay, everyone’s here. Adorabat, go tell the others.”

“Sure thing!” She then flew off.

“What about the Sheriff and the Boss?”

“Since they aren’t here yet, I’m assuming they’re still fighting.”

“Should we go help them?”

“Nah, I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

\------

As the Badger said, they were still fighting the robots, and they weren’t holding back. “How many of these guys are there?”

“It doesn’t matter, we’ll fight them all if we have to.”

“Everyone’s ready to go!” Commented Adorabat from behind Mao Mao.

He turned to her. “That’s great, but you should be careful, this guys are tougher than what they seem.”

“I’m sure I can kick some empty soda cans!” Answered Adorabat, sure of herself. However, a robot distanced from the battlefield, saw her as a new target. The bot picked up a piece of glass and threw it to Adorabat with the strength of a bullet. Right before the glass could hit Adorabat, Mao Mao jumped and pushed her out of the way. Getting the surface of the back of his left hand cut in the process. 

“AH! Mao Mao, a-are you ok?”

He dropped on the floor, and grabbed his wrist in pain. The wound was quite large, and blood began to pour out shortly after. “Yeah... Tell the others to leave. We’ll catch up to you guys later, quick!”

“Okay...” So she retrieved back to the escape pods.

Cobby and Tanner were astonished by Mao’s devotion to protect others. From Daichi, to his own enemies and friends, all without losing his cool. In their faces, Mao Mao was the hero he always bragged to be. But there was no time to stand still, some robots started to get closer to him, so Orangusnake jumped in to lend a hand. “C’mon! Are you going to stop fighting for a little cut?” Said, grinning as he extended his empty hand to the cat.

Mao chuckled “This? Hell no, I’ve been worse.” He reached the guy’s hand and stood up. “Now, let’s finish this.”


	5. The stranding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note to myself (and you guys): Never post an unfinished work. Finish it and then post it.

After quite a difficult landing, we see most of the cast safe, back at the plaza. The ship was far by now, so much so, it was barely visible from the town. And to top it all, the night was approaching fast.

“Okay, so everyone is here, right?” Asked Badgerclops

“Yeh, we count ‘em all.” Replied Boss Hosstrich

“Great, let’s go home then.”

“But what about Mao Mao?” Questioned Adorabat

“Well, we  _ could  _ stay, but-” All of a sudden, a thundering sound came from a far, the ship collisioned with the mountain it was aiming to. This made everyone turn to it, and followed by the sound, was an explosion. “H-HEY, Someone has binoculars?!”

“I-I do!” Said Ramaraffe.

Badgerclops used her to look for a sign of Mao Mao and Orangusnake, hoping to see them well. After not too long, he got a glimpse of them, flying away in the aerocycle. “Oh thank goodness.” But his relief wouldn’t last, because a few seconds later, a piece of junk struck them and took down the vehicle. “What!” He lost sight of them as soon as that happened, and there wasn’t a good angle to see anything else. The badger began to think of all the options he had, but there was no use. The only way to check up on them was going there. He took a deep breath and said. “Good news, they didn’t explode.” Everyone sighed in relief. “...But they crashed.” This took them by surprise, they were at a loss of words.

Adorabat broke the silence first. “What are we gonna do?”

“Nothing, at least for now.”

“W-Why!”

“My arm is busted, I don’t have any spares and we don’t have the aerocycle.”

“But  _ we _ can do something right?” Asked Ratarang.

“No, the sun is about to settle, and I don’t think any of you guys can fight monsters, let alone in the dark. The only thing we can do now is hope that they’re okay.”

“But I can get there myself!”

“Adorabat, it’s too risky, we’ll have to wait ‘til dawn. Hopefully by then I’ll have a new arm.” With everything decided, and nothing else to do, everyone looked down. Mad due to their helplessness in this situation. “Let’s go now...”

“I beg your pardon, but...” Interrupted Boss Hosstrich. “You see, it’s the first time we’ve been without the boss and, you know, since you’re in the same boat-”

“Just follow us.”

“Are you sure about this Badgerclops?”

“I’m tired man, I want this day to like, end right now. But I guess it’s gonna be fine, they’re not going to start anything without Orangusnake.” And so, the party headed to the Sheriff’s department, also known as their house.

\------

Earlier…

“Was that the last one?”

“I don’t know, you tell me...” Answered Mao Mao as he made a hand gesture, showing all the scattered pieces of metal across the deck.

“Well, you don’t have to be all sassy about it. Like, you could have- Wait! How long have we been fighting?”

“Why?”

“WE’RE ABOUT TO CRASH!”

“Oh god- Uh… To the aerocycle.” They ran as fast as they could to the bridge. Once they reached it, Mao hopped in vehicle, followed by Orangusnake. 

“What are you waiting for? We are gonna die if we don’t get out of here.”

“Hold on, it’s not working.” Mao tried pulling the handlebars again, opening his injury in the process. “C’mon, you can do it baby, please-” But i was too late, the ship’s bow hit the surface of the mountain, causing the whole ship to shake. Funny enough, this activated the vehicle, which made them go straight into a wall in the bridge.

“CAN YOU STOP FOOLING AROUND SHERIFF!”

“SHUT UP, I GOT THIS!” At that moment, something in the front of the ship exploded, and it began to tear down. This caused our heroes to fall off the ship, still on the flying motorcycle, in a spinning motion. Mao grabbed the handles tight, and steered the aerocycle to a neutral position.

“A-Are we alive?” Mumbled Coby, opening his eyes.

“Yes. Another mission completed all thanks to my greatness alone.” Asserted Mao, puffing out his chest.

“Heh, and here I thought  _ I _ was the show off.” Added chuckling while looking away.

“Hey, have some respect for the guy who’s been saving you all day.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say Ma-Uh?!” Cobby saw a giant metal scrap heading towards them, so fast that he was barely able to react. He lowered his head and hugged Mao, completely covering him with his body. The metal junk hit the aerocycle, causing it to spin in a free fall, collisioning straight with the top of a tree. The crash was pretty hard, but the vehicle took most of the damage. Orangusnake opened his eyes, surprised that he was safe and sound. “HA! Take  _ that _ Grim Reaper.” He then felt something shaking in his arms, it was Mao Mao, who was trying to get out of the his grasp. “Ouch! What was that for?”

Mao Mao had bitten Orangusnake’s arms. “What happened?”

“A piece of junk came out of nowhere, I didn’t have enough time to move us away and I wanted to… save your ungrateful skin.”

“So, the aerocycle is thrashed and we have no means of getting back to town before nighttime. We are also in a forest filled with monsters. And in top of  _ that _ I’m stranded with you, of all people.”

“Hey, I’m not exactly staggering about spending time with you either.”

“Whatever let’s get down of here.

“Wait, let me go first.”

“Uh?”

“It would be better if we scout the area to look if there’s any monsters lurking around. Since we’ve been living in the outside, we know how to move around in the forest. Besides, Tanner here is an Ape you know? We’ll help you get down afterwards.”

“I guess it’s okay.”

“Perfect!” With that, he descended the tree slow and steady. Once he reached the bottom, he spotted several things, like a stream of water, and a cave that was close to it. No monsters around, but he saw something shining in the floor. Piqued by curiosity he got closer, but as it turns out, it was the gem cell. This caught him off guard, how did it get there, why isn’t it broken, has Mao Mao realized it’s not there.

“So?” Mao asked from above.

“E-Everything’s alright sheriff! I’ll go in a sec.” Orangusnake took the gem cell and hid it in his armor. He climbed back and saw the sheriff licking his wound, with his glove still on. “...What are you doing?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“I can see that it’s- Ugh, give your hand.” He extended his arm to Mao Mao.

He backed down, covering his injury from him. 

“Come on! Again with the ‘Tough guy’ attitude?”

“What can I say, I’m tough, unlike-” Orangusnake grabbed his left arm.

“What are you more afraid of? Me, treating your injury? Or dying from blood loss?” He looked at Mao, straight in the eyes. 

Mao Mao looked away. “...The second one of course…”

He smiled victorious. “Good, but first we’ll have to get out of here.” He grabbed Mao by the waist and got him close to his chest. “Hold on from my neck.”

Mao did as such, and together, they descended from the tree. Once they reached the bottom, Orangusnake carefully placed Mao in the ground.

“Now what?”

“We need water to clean your hand. And thanks to  _ my _ amazing scouting skills, I found some closeby. This way.” After they reached the body of water. “We are also gonna need- Uh… Why is your glove still on?”

“Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it myself.”

He took a deep breath and got closer to Mao, taking his left hand. “We’ve been over this, let me do it.”

Mao growled. “Fine...”

Orangusnake took slowly took off Mao’s glove and used his empty hand to hold some water and poured it in Mao’s. “So, what do you think your guys are doing?”

“Looking for a way to help me out, I guess.”

After some more times of pouring water. “Okay, now we need something to patch you up. Luckily for you, I always carry a first aid kit with me.”

“Since when?”

“Oh, you see, Ratarang had an accident once were he-” 

“If it’s going to take you more than five minutes to tell me, then don’t.”

He gave him a death stare in response, he was angry, but Mao’s attitude wasn’t exactly what concerned him at the moment. He pulled out his kit, from it, he took out cleansing wipes, adhesive pads, and a gauze roll. 

He began wiping Mao’s hand. “Agh, that stings.”

“Good.” He smiled. Then, he used the adhesive pad to cover the injury, and wrapped up Mao’s hand with the gauze. “That should do. Now, we need to rest, and I found the perfect place to do so. Follow me.”

“...Sure.” Answered emotionless.

Orangusnake grinded his teeth, and walked.

They were face to face with the cave, standing awkwardly in front of it. “We should check if there’s anything inside before getting in.”

“...Right.” Replied Mao.

“So… Are you going in or...”

“What?”

“You’re a cat, you have night vision or whatever.”

“I mean, yeah, I can see well in the dark, but it’s nothing amazing.”

“Augh. If you want something done right, do it yourself.” He activated his weapon and got into the cave. But to his surprise, the cave was empty. “Hey Sheriff! It’s clear.”

Mao walked in. “We are going to sleep here, correct?”

“Yes, why do you ask.”

“Nothing, it’s just that… I haven’t slept in one of these in a long time.”

“Is that so?”

“Well… It’s-”

“Hold on, I just remembered something.” Orangusnake stepped out of the cave, and collected some branches that were lying around, some rocks as well. He tossed them next to the cave’s entrance, a part of the floor that wasn’t covered in grass. He made a campfire. “Hey, Could I borrow your sword for a moment?”

“What for?”

“Just hand it over, I won’t try anything.”

Still hesitant, Mao went to him, and gave him his katana. “... Do it quick.”

Orangusnake pulled out his own sword and started clashing them up and down, with the purpose of making fire. Once he started it, he handed Geraldine back to Mao Mao and put away his weapon. They went back to the cave and sat down, in front of each other. “Please, go on.”

“What was all that?”

“Oh, most monsters seem to be afraid of fire, so I put one outside to scare them off. But don’t let that bother you, keep talking.”

“... No, I think I’ve had enough for today.”

Orangusnake bursted in rage, smashing his fists in the ground. 

Mao rose up and in the blink of an eye, holding Geraldine’s hilt, ready for whatever the big guy was up to.

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Why do you insist on being so dismissive?”

“Oh I’m sorry. I didn’t know I had to share everything, with the guy who tries to kill me in a daily basis!”

“You know what, I’m done with you. Once we get to back to town, me and my crew are leaving this place!”

“Hah! You don’t even have a ship, how do you expect to get out of the valley?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care! I’ve had enough of this damn place, especially  _ YOU _ !” He was screaming, as usual, but due to the tone he used, it seemed like he was serious.

Mao Mao didn’t know how to react. Sure, his job would be easier without the Sky Pirates around, and he was happy for defeating his nemesis. But a part of him began to ache, his insecurities started to appear. ‘Great, you made someone leave you again.’ ‘Just like with Bao Bao, just like with Tanya, and just like with your own family’. ‘How long will it take until Badgerclops and Adorabat leave you too’. ‘How long will it take until the whole Valley wants nothing to do with you’. All of this went through his head in a matter of seconds, making him shiver. He dropped in the floor, lying his back against the wall, crying.

This startled Orangusnake. “H-Hey, what’s wrong?”

Mao kept whimpering, unable to talk, trying to cover his face. ‘Are you not ashamed of yourself? Crying in front of the enemy like that?’.

He didn’t know why Mao was crying, but he knew he had to do something it. “Mao, I mean, Sheriff! I-It’s not like you to cry, heroes don’t cry right?”

This made Mao shed tears. ‘He’s right, heroes don’t cry. You’re not a hero, you’re still a kid pretending to be one’. ‘Ironic, a villain knows more about being a hero than you’.

He began to panic, he made things worse and had no idea what to do. “Mao Mao, I have don’t know why are you crying, but I can help you-”

Mao bawled. ‘He’s not feeling sorry for you, you’re making him uncomfortable and wants you to shut the hell up’.

Since words were useless at this point, he did the next best thing. He hugged Mao, placing his head above the cat’s, covering his back with his arms. He felt Mao’s heartbeat slowing down, little by little, as the cat regained composure. “I’m here if you need to talk.”

The voices in his head were fading away, and a feeling of comfort appeared. Tears of joy flowed down his face. “...Thank you...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it, comments and kudos are welcomed.


	6. The end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This didn't come out how I would've liked it to but, oh well, live and learn I guess.

It was early in the morning, the sun was rising as usual, and the cries of monsters could be heard in the distance. Our heroes were sleeping in a cave, spoon-style. Mao Mao was the first one to wake up. Slowly opening his eyes, he panicked seeing Orangusnake’s arms around his stomach. It was then when he also noticed Coby’s head resting on his, and Tanner’s soft breathing in his back. “It wasn’t a dream?” Mao’s memories of yesterday flashed through his head. All the personal stuff that he told to his sworn enemy, all the tears they shared and all the mixed feelings he had. They talked about his past, about his life so far, and about the future. But something that remained consistent through it, was Orangusnake. With a great understanding and his reassuring body language. Mao Mao took a deep breath. “...I’m glad it actually happened.” And closed his eyes. At that moment, if he could ask for anything else in the world, it would be to stay like that forever. 

Sadly for him, the big guy woke up too, with a loud yawn announcing it. “Good morning Sheriff, did you sleep well?” He hugged Mao and rubbed his chin against the cat’s ears.

“Yeah, thanks to you.” He smiled to himself.

“That’s great. But, you know, we should get going.”

“You’re right...” Replied Mao Mao with a gloomy tone.

“Oh, don’t be so sad, we talked about this.”

“I know. It’s just that… you’re going to leave, right?”

“Er--” Coby cleared his throat. “I-”

“It’s okay.” Mao moved Tanner’s hands away, and stood up, trying not to look at Orangusnake. “I’m gonna be alright. Let’s go then.” Answered, walking out of the cave.

He stood up and trying to catch up with Mao Mao.

The hours passed as the two of them walked in an awkward silence. Mao Mao was leading the way, and Orangusnake could only walk behind. He knew Mao was angry, but what else could he do about that? They talked a bunch yesterday, and maybe the cat would no longer be in the mood to listen to him.

A few more hours passed, they were really close to the town, they could see the front doors, and even the plaza. In a sudden impulse, Orangusnake grabbed Mao’s arm, stopping him. “...”

“...” The cat didn’t seem fazed by this. In fact, he didn’t even turn to him.

“I-I should have said something earlier.”

“What’s left to say? You are leaving, that’s it.”

“W-Well yeah! I mean- No!”

“...You don’t have to stay in the valley, it’s fine.”

“No it’s not!”

“Why?”

“Coz, I haven’t told you... how I’m going to leave...?” Things weren’t going smoothly, and Coby’s hesitation was obvious.

“I thought you said that it didn’t matter.” Mao gazed at him.

“Well...” Desperate to keep his attention, he took out the gem cell.

“Wait, is that-”

“Yes, it is. I was thinking on using it to escape, and leave you and your friends stranded and-”

Mao gave him a death stare.

“POINT IS! I don’t really plan on leaving anymore.”

“UH?”

“Y-You see, I only said that yesterday because I was mad and… you know...”

Mao Mao was shocked, why give him the gem, was it a trick or something? But upon thinking about it, he realized. “Wait! Do you-”

“MAO MAO!” Adorabat came out of nowhere, appearing in front of them. ”We were so worried about you! What happened after the ship exploded? Are you okay? How’s your hand?” She bombarded Mao Mao with questions. “DID HE DO SOMETHING TO YOU!” Said as she flew close to Orangusnake, slapping him with her little wings. “Take  _ this _ ! And  _ this _ !”

Mao grabbed her. “Hey, hey, calm down Adorabat. I’m fine, where’s Badgerclops?”

She hugged Mao Mao, rubbing her face against his chest. “He fell asleep at the plaza.”

“He did what now?”

Shortly after, the rest of the Sky Pirates appeared. “Boss!”

\------

A few minutes earlier…

We see the Sheriff’s deputies and the Sky Pirates on the plaza. Adorabat flying around the place, and Badgerclops trying not to collapse. “Okay, I had to put an all nighter--” He yawned. “--And I’ve ate nothing since breakfast, but I finally have a new robo-arm. Let’s go for Mao Mao and-”

“I SEEM THEM” Screamed Adorabat from above.

“Ohthankgod.” He dropped in the floor, snoring loudly.

\------

“We missed ya so much boss.” Said Ratarang.

“Yeah, don’t get captured like that again.” Added Ramaraffe.

“Oh, you sure got us worried young man!” Scolded Boss Hosstrich.

“Guys, guys, hold on I-”

“No! We almost lost ya back there, we want to get you back to the ship.”

“B-But I!”

“No buts sir!” Ramaraffe and Boss Hosstrich lifted him and carried him back to the ship.

“Wait!” Said Mao.

“You should get some rest too Mao Mao.”

He wanted to decline, but after seeing Adorabat looking at him with puppy eyes, he simply couldn’t. “Alright… let’s go.”

“Yay! Oh wait, you’ll have to carry Badgerclops back home.”

“...Sure why not.”

Later, at night time. Mao Mao was sitting on the doorstep of the house, looking at the bright and shiny moon. But this time, he wasn’t sad, he was joyful. He smiled to himself, thinking about everything that happened in the last few days. But most importantly, he was thinking about Orangusnake. He never expected to fall for a bad guy… again. Feeling the cold breeze of the night hit his face again, he decided to go back to bed. But a bunch of bushes began to shake, he turned around and grabbed Geraldine’s hilt. “Who’s there?”

Out of the bushes, came out Orangusnake. “H-Hey there Mao Mao!” Said waving his hand, with the gem cell in the other one.

Mao let go of his weapon, and slowly approached the big guy.

“I-I know this is, um, not the best time but, uh… What are you doing?” Mao Mao was really close to him, completely quiet.

Mao jumped, and kissed Orangusnake’s cheek. “Thank you for coming back.” Then, he hugged the guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! Tell me what you think.


End file.
